


A Method for Migraines

by 20plus10 (Helen_Pie)



Category: The Mighty Boosh (TV)
Genre: M/M, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-06-06 14:59:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6758788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helen_Pie/pseuds/20plus10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set during The Zoo Times. Howard has a migraine and Vince knows how to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Method for Migraines

So I heard it from Joey Moose who heard it from Bollo. Howard had gone and shut himself in the hut and pulled on all the curtains, all squinty and suspicious. More so than usual I mean. 

Howards my best mate and all, and we’ve been friends since we were kids, but he can’t half be a pain in the bum sometimes. Always moaning on about Gideon or his thwarted ambitions to become a writer of whatever. He never just lives in the moment like me. Obviously not everyone can be as fabulous as Vince Noir, Rock ‘n’ Roll star, but still. I wish he’d lighten up sometimes.

So there I was, sneaking up to the hut and peering round the door like a shifty cat burglar or something, wondering what it was this time.  
The flimsy floral curtains weren’t really doing much to block out the sunshine so it was pretty easy to see him, stretched out on the settee with one arm flung over his eyes

Uh oh.

I recognised that look.

“Alright Howard?” I asked, making my voice all soft coz I know that too much noise would hit him like a hot knitting needle to his head when he’s like this.   
He didn’t say nothing, just mumbled at me at first, then took his arm away from his eyes, his face all scrunched up. “Migraine, Vince,” he said, as if I needed telling. I’m not that thick you know!

I’m well practiced at his migraine thing you see; he always gets ‘em, usually when he’s really wound up about something. Exams used to freak him out something terrible, he had to take these weird blue pills every day that sent him all funny. It’d been ages since I’ve seen him this way so I couldn’t help but feel a bit worried about him. Luckily I remembered the three things he said he needed when this happened; Dark, Cold, Quiet. He used to call it the ‘method for migraines.’

“Shit mate, been a while since your last one, what’s got you so worked up this time?”

He didn’t say anything, just kind of lay there all tensed up and miserable. But I had to ask:

“You taken your tablets yet?” 

He nodded then clearly immediately regretted that decision, and he waved his arm in the direction of the empty packet and half full glass by the sink. The tablets help but they tend to make him woozy. Best bet is to try to get him to sleep for a few hours but it can take him ages to relax enough for that to happen. 

But I’m a gifted child and after all these years I know how Howard ticks, so I am all over this situation, ready to problem solve like a motherbitch. Time to use the migraine method.

The first thing you need to know about migraines is that they don’t like the light. But the zookeeper’s hut wasn’t as dark as Howard’s flat or his old bedroom in Leeds, and those bloody curtains really are rubbish. Luckily, I remembered that I had a zebra print sleep mask somewhere around. I thought it might come in handy, though giving it to my best mate whose been knocked out by his own brain wasn’t really what I had in mind, I was thinking much kinkier thoughts…never mind. 

I managed to find it, and put it to one side for when he goes to sleep. While I was there I went into the freezer where we keep the first aid ice packs. You know the ones, you got ‘em at school if you sprained your ankle and a wet paper towel wasn’t cutting it.

The second thing that is really important with migraines is that some people apparently like warm things to soothe their head, and some people like cold. Howard likes cold, to the point where I once found him with a bag of frozen peas on his face, so I very quietly pulled up a chair next to his head and put two of the ice packs on my knee. I put my hands over them, it hurt a bit but I just kept lifting them up then putting them back down until they were all frosty. Howard’s face by this point was all scrunched up like a walnut, and Christ, he really needs to start moisturising because one day his face might stick that way. Them laughter lines are turning into crow’s feet as it is.

So here’s where it gets a bit weird.

Howard hates being touched, right? And he hates migraines even more, so you’d think that he wouldn’t want me anywhere near him when he’s feeling like shit. But I’m a zookeeper, yeah? I don’t like seeing animals or people in pain, and I have this itch to help them if I can. So even though I’ve never tried it before, I took my icy hands and I just really lightly brushed them over his forehead, just to try to make him feel a bit better.

I think he definitely liked it because he let out this sigh of relief. So I kept doing it, just sweep, sweep, sweeping my fingers across his forehead in a steady rhythm. It really seemed to help, so I pressed down a bit harder, smoothing out all them annoying wrinkles like a stylish human iron.

One of them wrinkles was driving me mad; the one right in between his eyebrows, like a deep furrow of misery. So I pressed down dead hard with my thumbs between his eyebrows, keeping my fingers at his temples at the same time. and he arched his back, I mean actually arched it and let out this really weird moan that made me go a bit red and flustered, if I’m honest. Not that he could see, he kept his eyes closed and he once told me that he finds it hard to concentrate when he was in the middle of a migraine attack anyway.

“Thanks Vince,” he murmured, all soft like, and I could feel the blush spreading. I didn’t say anything, just handed him the mask so he could block out all that pesky light, and watched him as he put it on and turned on his side, taking one of the ice packs from me and leaning his temple against it gently.

It just felt nice to look after him, that’s all. Usually he looks after me and I like being fussed over, don’t get me wrong. But I also quite like it when I can rescue him or make him feel a bit better. He’s the best mate ever even if he does piss me off sometimes. And yeah, so I quite liked that little noise he made and alright, I wouldn’t mind trying to get a few more noises like that out of him if you know what I mean. I think you know what I mean.

The last thing you need to know about migraines is that Howard needs quiet. 

Now, most people look at me and think I’m anything but quiet but I can keep my mouth shut if I want to. And I’m pretty good at keeping secrets too.   
Sometimes in the middle of the night, I think about how maybe I feel a bit more for Howard than “just friends,” and I wonder if maybe I’m a bit obvious, following him round and teasing him all the time. But that’s my secret and I’ll keep it, and I’ll thank you to mind your own business. 

Alright, fine, so I’ve a crush on my best friend. But worse things than that happen to people all the time. I’m the Sunshine Kid, and I’ll keep quiet - I’m good at keeping quiet about the important stuff. And sooner or later, I’m pretty sure Howard will figure it out anyway…

**Author's Note:**

> I've been trying to get Vince's voice right and thought writing a first person POV fic might help, as it's not something I'm overly comfortable with!


End file.
